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There are times when the stars align just right and spontenaity rears its head, resulting in a quite pleasant outcome. Last night was one of those times.
The prop team had completed fuel loading early and we all got back to the Fili before the end of the appointed dinner time. After dinner, I meandered outside for a breath of air and a cup of coffee and found a small group of people recounting the day's events, sipping Baltica No. 3s and breaking out the cigars. Some more people came out shortly after that, and before you knew it, there was a full-blown party going on!
There was a little bit of everything. The team from the U.K. told limericks and sang bawdy songs. I recited The Shooting of Dan McGrew. And out of the blue, the deputy launch operations manager surprised us all with some notes on his harmonica.
A number of packages of microwave popcorn were popped and I feel safe in saying that a number of bottles of vodka and fruit juice were consumed. The cigar smoke helped keep the mosquitos away, and the evening chill was relieved by the starting of a wood fire in an open air stove.
Something like that was only to be expected, really. The prop team plays a central role in the campaign, and have been involved with the spacecraft since it was a collection of parts at the fabricating plant in Toulouse. It's a shame they'll be leaving us at the end of the week, their work ended.
With the propellant loading out of the way, things are now set for the start of so-called "combined operations," during which Russian, French, and American team members will guide the satellite through mating with the adapter system (a cleverly engineered device that holds the satellite in a death grip until the time comes to separate from the upper stage) and with the upper stage just prior to having the whole stack encapsulated in the payload fairing.
Then the encapsulated stack will be mated to the launch vehicle, after which a number of tests will be run and upon successful completion, the whole shebang - now called a "space rocket" - will be taken to a fueling station to load propellant onto the upper stage.
From the station, the rocket is hauled out to the pad, for eventual launch.
The traditional, official propellant team party is slated for tomorrow night. It's a British affair, complete with humorous signs and lots of fellowship. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up to last night's fortunate combination of events.
I was the on-call interpreter today, and managed to stumble through the day without getting called. Tomorrow, I am the early guy in, which means interpreting for the morning meeting and other duties until early afternoon, but also means having an opportunity to do a little rack drill before the party in the evening.
It turns out there is yet another launch for another campaign slated for tonight (actually, for early tomorrow morning). I'm still not clear as to the details, but I believe it's a Japanese payload that's going to be lofted into orbit using a modified SS-18 "Satan" rocket. That's right: an ICBM.
Moreover, the launch is slated to occur from a silo.
The launch time is somewhere after 3 am, which means the bus will be leaving our area around 1:30. I've been told that participation on the part of interpreters is voluntary. And although I suspect that the launch, given the hour, will merely find spectators following a noisy point of light from ground level into the sky, I think I am going to go.
And to do that (and report for work in some kind of reasonable condition), I'm thinking I should get a couple of hours' sleep, like, now.
Cheers...
The prop team had completed fuel loading early and we all got back to the Fili before the end of the appointed dinner time. After dinner, I meandered outside for a breath of air and a cup of coffee and found a small group of people recounting the day's events, sipping Baltica No. 3s and breaking out the cigars. Some more people came out shortly after that, and before you knew it, there was a full-blown party going on!
There was a little bit of everything. The team from the U.K. told limericks and sang bawdy songs. I recited The Shooting of Dan McGrew. And out of the blue, the deputy launch operations manager surprised us all with some notes on his harmonica.
A number of packages of microwave popcorn were popped and I feel safe in saying that a number of bottles of vodka and fruit juice were consumed. The cigar smoke helped keep the mosquitos away, and the evening chill was relieved by the starting of a wood fire in an open air stove.
Something like that was only to be expected, really. The prop team plays a central role in the campaign, and have been involved with the spacecraft since it was a collection of parts at the fabricating plant in Toulouse. It's a shame they'll be leaving us at the end of the week, their work ended.
With the propellant loading out of the way, things are now set for the start of so-called "combined operations," during which Russian, French, and American team members will guide the satellite through mating with the adapter system (a cleverly engineered device that holds the satellite in a death grip until the time comes to separate from the upper stage) and with the upper stage just prior to having the whole stack encapsulated in the payload fairing.
Then the encapsulated stack will be mated to the launch vehicle, after which a number of tests will be run and upon successful completion, the whole shebang - now called a "space rocket" - will be taken to a fueling station to load propellant onto the upper stage.
From the station, the rocket is hauled out to the pad, for eventual launch.
The traditional, official propellant team party is slated for tomorrow night. It's a British affair, complete with humorous signs and lots of fellowship. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up to last night's fortunate combination of events.
I was the on-call interpreter today, and managed to stumble through the day without getting called. Tomorrow, I am the early guy in, which means interpreting for the morning meeting and other duties until early afternoon, but also means having an opportunity to do a little rack drill before the party in the evening.
It turns out there is yet another launch for another campaign slated for tonight (actually, for early tomorrow morning). I'm still not clear as to the details, but I believe it's a Japanese payload that's going to be lofted into orbit using a modified SS-18 "Satan" rocket. That's right: an ICBM.
Moreover, the launch is slated to occur from a silo.
The launch time is somewhere after 3 am, which means the bus will be leaving our area around 1:30. I've been told that participation on the part of interpreters is voluntary. And although I suspect that the launch, given the hour, will merely find spectators following a noisy point of light from ground level into the sky, I think I am going to go.
And to do that (and report for work in some kind of reasonable condition), I'm thinking I should get a couple of hours' sleep, like, now.
Cheers...
